The Futuristic Past
by AuricEspeon
Summary: An experiment with an invention to choose the best tributes goes wrong- kind of. Twelve children from the past, where the year is 2012 and America still exists, are sent to their future, and they must enter the Hunger Games. Only one can go back.
1. Present to Future

**Hey guys! Sorry for any readers of TLAD. I deleted that one... my muses were dying off and the first chapter was rewritten but it turned out way worse than I thought it would... so yeah. Well, I'm starting my rewrite of Futuristic Past, so here you go. Honestly though, I'm probably going to take a step off of my hiatus and just leave it on this story. Plot bunnies are overrunning my safe haven, so I'm probably going to murder some of them and feed the others.  
**

**Well the first part should be 'oh, this is _' for any old readers... newbies, welcome and you'll find out who 'I' is later. Part of my 'awesome' plot. Erin is my OC that was actually 'Cassie'. BTW, I'm changing some names.  
**

**Also, for the people... I changed it to 12 tributes from the past. They are still the same (AKA people who are at a different school) but others are just, well, regular tributes. That way I don't have to let all twenty-four current tributes live in my cage. It costs a _lot_ to keep them alive! Anybody that wants their own part (either in this story as a regular tribute or in my sequel, which will be written as soon as I'm done with this story) can PM me or tell me in a review what kind of person they want. Depending on how things are working out, I'll accept or reject their character.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games or anything related to it, such as the idea of swords. I do, however, own Cassie. Everyone else either built their own OC or I created it for them.  
**

**Author's notes**

Story**  
**

"Talking"

_'Thoughts'  
_

___TIME _

___"Computerized_ _Voice"_

'Written Material'

Place

* * *

_DATE UNKNOWN, PLACE UNKNOWN, TIME UNKNOWN  
_

**Unknown PoV  
**

"And it is...?" I ask, tilting my head in mild interest, my locks falling into my sight, my eyes lidded and long curled lashes obscuring my eyes.

"I have named it the TributeSelector. It chooses tributes from each district that are most eligible to take part in the Hunger Games." he replies, fiddling with the cap of the box and peering inside, one eye closed.

"Demonstrate." I command, lifting my chin and staring imperially at him.

"Of course, milady," he replies, smiling a rather strained grin.

He attaches a long black cord labeled POWER SOURCE to the cube, and it begins to glow an eerie green, the light bouncing off the mirrored walls. A humming emits from the box, and it flashes bright blue, before becoming dim.

For a second, nothing happens. And then there are twelve children- six males and six females, all looking to be about the same age, eleven- standing before us.

And I know, for a fact, that they are from the past.

* * *

_IN THE TIME OF 2012, AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN MICHIGAN, LUNCHTIME  
_

**Erin's PoV**_  
_

"I got you, Ado!" a boy with brown hair and eyes says angrily, stomping over to a tall Oriental boy with short spiky hair and thin glasses that were shaded from the sun.

"No you didn't!" Aidan, also known as Ado, nicknamed by the class clowns, protests.

"We did, you know!" I say, staring him down. I am still the shortest out of us all here, but apparently my glare can be a bit intimidating. Luke, who's tall with _really_ pale skin and white-blond hair, agrees by my side. His real name is Lukas, but Nick is really the only person who really calls him that. We're playing the Hunger Games at recess. All of us are eleven years old, and my friend Charlotte organized it. You kill someone by tagging their stomach or chest. We all know Nick got Aidan twice already, and Luke had stabbed him once, but he always says something along the lines of "He didn't get me!".

"Let's just say you're dead." I suggest. Of course, Aidan complains loudly.

"He didn't get me!" Aidan yells. Ah. Here's my direct quote.

"Tell that to everyone who saw," Luke suggests, a rather spiteful gleam in his blue-green eyes..

I laugh derisively. "See who believes it!" I add gleefully. Aidan glares at me. Suddenly, sound of the whistle signalling the end of recess sounds.

Luke smirks at me, his mouth twisting into his 'Malfoy sneer' leftover from our Harry Potter-obsessing days. "Race you!" he shouts, before running to the lines. I roll my eyes, but sprint after him. There, Charlotte, medium height with dark blonde shoulder-length hair and blue eyes, and Christina, a Chinese girl with hair a little past her shoulders that was even smaller than me, who were 'killed' on the first day, are waiting for us. So are Michael, tall with golden blond hair and blue eyes, Maria, a petite Romanian girl with thick shoulder-length dark chocolate-colored hair and matching eyes, Ian, who had a thick mop of wavy gold-blond hair, and Chris, short and bony with long (well, for a boy at least) dirty blonde straightened hair, who were busy planning with Anna, a girl the same size as Charlotte that was also Chinese with glasses and darker-than-usual skin. They were all playing with us, but hadn't been involved when Ado had died so many times.

Luke beats me to our class line. "HA!" he boasts, grinning at me triumphantly. I push him, making him stumble into Michael.

"Erin!" Michael says exasperatedly, staring at me. I look at him with an innocent look before turning back to Luke.

"You had a head start!" I say, as Aidan runs into me, his heavy-set body pushing into my back. It's on purpose, and I know that. I kick him in the shins, before turning around and reminiscing the time that I pushed him off the Bouncer on accident. I let out a soft giggle as the rest of our grade joins the lines. It's a race to the doors, but I walk next to Charlotte to plan.

We walk to our classroom, where our teacher, says, "Time for independent reading!" I sigh and Charlotte and I both get out our independent reading projects out. As I reach for my favorite blue mechanical pencil, I suddenly see a bright flash of light blue light that blinds me momentarily. I seem to be moving- it's the same feeling I get when I'm really dizzy- and the world whirls around me and I feel like I'm about to puke, before just as suddenly, it stops. I see everyone that was playing the Hunger Games, as well as my nemesis Serena, and we are standing in a room who's walls are black and glittering with iridescent moonstones and opals.

Standing in front of us is a scientist and a petite woman with long dark hair in a thick braid down her back with blue-grey eyes and olive skin.

The lady speaks, standing from her golden chair- no, throne- majestically, her stare soft but firm as she looks down at us.

"My name is Katniss Everdeen-Mellark. You have been chosen as tributes for our Hunger Games."

* * *

**Whoa. This feels really short. I mean, it's like a prologue, but still. I think that it's really going to be mostly the same, except I'm going to include more prep stuff and start the games (haha, my friends are probably thinking "Finally! You took forever!") plus include the regular tribute people and background about Katniss in this instead of starting a spin-off purely on her past before becoming manager of Panem.  
**

**The stuff below... is for my own benefit. Don't read it if you don't want spoilers if you're a newbie. For old friends... you might have noticed I changed (few) names a bit. Cassie is now Elise and sewer-boy's last name is now Hsing.  
**

**BOYS  
**

**Martin Melrose, One, Axe  
**

**Krit Megrid, Two, Physical/knife/shruiken/spear  
**

******Finnal (nicknamed sewer-boy on occasion) Hsing, Four, Sword/trident  
**

**Alex Chicken, Seven, Machete  
**

******Max Chambers, Eight, Blow darts/knife**  


**********Carlos Santana, Eleven, Physical/spears  
**

**GIRLS  
**

**Kat Citty, One, Nunchaku  
**

**Elise Chang, Two, Poison/shruiken/throwing knives  
**

**Akina Feng, Four, Poison/dagger/sword  
**

**Luna Lin, Eight, Knife  
**

**Katherine (nicknamed Rina) Tang, Nine, Poison/Bow and Arrow  
**

**Rue Wildflower, Eleven, Throwing knives  
**


	2. Of Districts and of Violence

**Yay! This is a special Thanksgiving (well, in Michigan) update for you guys! Actually, I wasn't going to really post it until the weekend, but then I finished it... so plans change! This is getting back to my usual level of words, but I _di__d_ combine two chapters, so I don't think it counts. I'll probably keep combining the chapters until I start typing without my notes, so the other chapters you might be like, "Huh? I already read the edited part..." so that's going to be fixed.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games or anything related to it, such as the idea of swords. I do, however, own Elise. Everyone else either built their own OC or I created it for them.  
**

**Author's notes**

Story**  
**

"Talking"

_'Thoughts'  
_

___TIME _

___"Computerized_ _Voice"_

'Written Material'

Place

* * *

_100 PANEM, UNKNOWN PLACE, UNKNOWN TIME  
_

**Nick's PoV**

I can see the confusion on everyone's faces, but it's more well masked on the girls' faces. They're thinking fast, and I know that.

"We need time to think," says Christina quickly, her fist clenching subtly around her thin fluffed plaid jacket.

"Yes. It's very confusing, being transported from one time to another, I'm sure, although I've never tried it," Katniss replies mildly, staring at her blankly, her face set in a cool expression as her slate-colored eyes narrowed.

"I don't think you want to know what it's like," Erin mutters dryly. Luke snorts from next to me, me rolling my eyes.

We huddle into a sort of circle, and Charlotte whispers to Erin, who nods and turns to Maria and says it quietly into her ear, who passes it on to Christina.

"We need fake names," whispers Luke when Chris has finished speaking to him. I wonder why- it's not like there would be anybody here that would know us.

"Come up with something original," Erin adds quickly, staring pointedly at me.

"Okay, okay! Geez," I say. "I'll be Carlos Santana."

"That's not original. You should be Lord Hen instead," she says, referring to the time she had called me 'Lord N' mockingly but I had thought she had said 'Lord Hen'. Maria giggles, but I don't find it funny. I glare at Erin and Maria.

"I'm going to be Krit Megrid." Luke says.

"I'll be Martin Melrose," Michael adds.

Chris decides to go by Alex Chicken- the last name being part of his obsession with chickens- while Ian chooses the name Max Chambers. Aidan says that he'll be Finnal Sun. The girls have more names that you wouldn't find in our time. Not all of them were like that though. Charlotte is Rue Wildflower, Erin is Elsie Chang, Anna is Akina Feng, Serena is Luna Lin, Christina is Katherine Tang, and Maria is Kat Citty.

"We've decided," says Chris loudly.

"Yes, I can see that. Now, about your fate... you will be forced to compete in the Hunger Games in the next Quarter Quell. It's a year from now." says Katniss. "You will be staying at the Capitol but it will seem like you live in the District we will assign you to."

"What are the Hunger Games?" asks Michael. "And the Capitol and District?" We all know he's faking, but it's good. Of course we should probably have expected nothing less- after all, Michael aspires to be an actor. He probably acts a lot.

"The Hunger Games is a tournament held annually each year. Two tributes from the ages of twelve to eighteen are selected from each District except for District Thirteen. Your Districts are forced to treat it as a celebration." Katniss replies, an undertone of bitterness in her voice.

"What's so bad about it?" Luna asks, pretending to be curious as she tilts her head to the side.

"It's a fight to the death. That's what's so bad," Katniss says almost dismissively in a stony tone. I wonder what happened to Peeta- she was Katniss Everdeen-Mellark, so that meant that they got married, right?- and made her the head of the Capitol.

* * *

**Charlotte's PoV**

_100 PANEM, CAPITOL BUILDING, PARLOR, 12:47 PM  
_

"How are we going to be put into the Districts?" Martin asks curiously to the scientist leading us to a spacious bright yellow room with large fancy windows. The scientist walks quickly to the windows- I count eight of them- and begins to open each of them. We stand awkwardly in the middle, gazing at the gems encrusted at the windowsills.

"A kind of a skill test," says the mad scientistwho apparently made the cube that brought us here. "I get to make it." He's beaming crazily, his eyes glittering with insane excitement, and I'm beginning to doubt his sanity. "Of course we have to make your skills match those of your district.

"When does it start?" Aidan demands impatiently, tapping his foot.

"Now," the scientist replies, setting up a glass orb on a table I've just noticed. It's surrounded with velvet-covered Victorian chairs. "Sit down, sit down!" he adds jovially, plopping himself in a chair himself, gesturing to the other empty chairs surrounding the table. Hesitantly, we file into the chairs, Christina slipping into the seat next to mine while Maria sits on her other side.

"Each test is designed specially to determine districts," says the man. "Please sit down at this chair when I point at you." He points at a chair that seemed to have materialized out of nowhere. The design is made from some sort of metal and the seat is in the shape of an oval. The back is encrusted with opals and the armrests are in the shape of semicircles.

First, he points at Ian. He walks up, almost reluctantly, and sits down gingerly on the chair. His butt goes through the chair, but Ian isn't looking and flops down onto the floor with his high-pitched yelp of surprise. The scientist laughs in glee.

"Haha! That was a hologram!" he snickers loudly, howling maliciously while we stared at Ian, then at the holographic chair, then at the insane man cackling before us. When his laughter quiets, he turns back to Ian like nothing had happened.

"Put your hand in the goldfish bowl," he instructs. I raise an eyebrow, wondering if it was a trick. Ian looks like he is thinking the same thing. I feel sorry for him- why was _he_ the test subject, of all people?

The goldfish bowl begins to glow white when Ian puts his hand in. Slowly it begins to turn metallic silver, than flickers to a pretty shade of bluish green. It changes slowly to yellow, then sparkles gold before it darkens to a majestic red-purple. It stays there for a few seconds, before becoming white again.

"Aha! Your traits are very District Eight-y!" the mad scientist says excitedly. "District Eight is for textiles- sewing, weaving, and designing clothes, you know..." Ian's face looks a little less pasty as the man babbles on, returning to the seat he had been sitting in.

Next the man calls up Aidan. He's quivering a bit- probably from nervousness- but walks up with a confident stride. He sticks his hand in the fishbowl and it glows white before flickering to gold. It stays only a second, switching almost immediately to silver before changing to apple-red and finally settles at the blue-green that looked so pretty.

"Wonderful, wonderful!" says the scientist. "District Four of fish and the sea! My favorite, actually," he adds in a very matter-of-fact way.

I see Erin smirk as Aidan walks back to his seat.

"Hey, Finnal," she calls derisively. "How are you doing as a fish?"

"Eri- Elise"- Luke corrects himself from his almost slip- "don't bother talking to Finnal, he isn't worth your time," he says. "You know, since he can't comprehend anything you're saying."

Erin giggles. Finnal glares at her. He stood straighter, and I see his hand clench. It balls into a fist, and he raises it. A split second before it happened, I realize it. He was going to smack Cassie with all his strength.

Erin isn't paying attention. He stepped closer and threw a punch at her face. It seemed to be in slow motion- just like it would be in a movie- and I saw or heard everyone's reaction, my senses suddenly hyper-alert as my eyes widened. Christina gasped, Ian letting out a loud yelp for her, Maria shouting "No!" as Nick and Michael stare, frozen. Luke opens his mouth to let out a warning, Anna gaping with her mouth wide open. Even Serena- who Erin has an argument with- looks surprised. Luckily Erin raises her arm quickly enough to hit Aidan's fist away. The sound of the loud slap resounds around the room, and almost all of us push back our chairs as we stand up, even Erin.

"Stop insulting me, you- you-" Aidan struggles for a word, and for a few seconds, I even think he might call her a bitch. "You stupid, evil, witch!" He glares a Erin, almost completely ignoring Luke.

'_It's understandable that he would glare at Erin, but wouldn't he also glare at Luke?'_ I wonder. It probably wasn't the best time to ask why he only seemed to dislike Erin.

The mad scientist seems to see us at last, but he seem more alert than he acts, because he doesn't ask any questions. He just continues sorting us.

* * *

_100 PANEM, CAPITOL BUILDING, THRONE ROOM, 2:46 PM  
_

**Luke's PoV**_  
_

We finally finish the testing. It ended up that I had gotten into District Two with Erin, while Maria and Michael to District One. Four was taken by Aidan and Anna, while Chris was the only one in District Seven. In Eight, Ian and Serena had been paired, while only Christina had been put into District Nine. Nick and Charlotte were sorted as people of District Eleven, while the rest of the spaces were "to be filled with people of this time". The scientist walks us back to the room we had arrived in. There, Katniss is waiting, this time not on her obsidian chair, but instead pacing the black marble floors from wall to wall. We file in, waiting for her to acknowledge us. Finally she stops in the center, staring at us with a penetrating stare.

"What are your names and ages?" she asks- no, more like _demands_.

"All of us are eleven," answers Christina. "I'm Chri- Katherine. Katherine, uh, Tang."

We continue to name ourselves off, sometimes stumbling on our new names. Nick is the last one to speak.

"My name is Carlos," he says, studying Katniss intently. "Santana."

"Thank you for telling me these. I would like to invite you to the hundredth Hunger Games." Katniss says.

"It's the hundredth Hunger Games already?" Ian says disbelievingly, his hands on his face in a falsely melodramatic expression of surprise.

"No, it's the ninety-ninth year. You know the basic rules, I presume?" Katniss asks. "Kaarid should have explained them to you," she adds.

"All we know is that it's a fight to the death," lies Chris smoothly.

Katniss nods in understanding. "I see. I'll explain it to you..."

* * *

**Hey guys! Well, it's Thanksgiving Break for our school district, so I get time off and more typing time! Although my Chinese HW is still not done... -_-'  
**

**I've decided to start previews, so here it is!  
**

_"Girls, follow me," says Katniss. I'm the first one to follow her, and everyone else follows my lead. Katniss takes us to a long hallway, filled with bright tapestries of the past Hunger Games, and paintings of past winners. I admire each work of art, being the type of person who likes to draw and paint._

_Finally, the hallway ends. It leads into a large room. There are twelve doors. I guess that they are for the female tributes each year. Katniss tells us to find the one with our name on it. I briefly wonder how they know our names, until I realise that we had used our names in the test for the districts. I quickly discover that the door furthest to the right is mine. There are little engravings of wheat next to the onyx plate with my name._

**BOYS  
**

**Michael- Martin Melrose, One, Axe  
**

**Luke/Lukas-Krit Megrid, Two, Physical/knife/shruiken/spear  
**

******Aidan- Finnal (nicknamed sewer-boy on occasion) Sun, Four, Sword/trident  
**

**Chris- Alex Chicken, Seven, Machete  
**

******Ian- Max Chambers, Eight, Blow darts/knife**  


**********Nick- Carlos Santana, Eleven, Physical/spears  
**

**GIRLS  
**

**Maria- Kat Citty, One, Nunchaku  
**

**Erin- Elise Chang, Two, Poison/shruiken/throwing knives  
**

**Anna- Akina Feng, Four, Poison/dagger/sword  
**

**Serena- Luna Lin, Eight, Knife  
**

**Christina- Katherine (nicknamed Rina) Tang, Nine, Poison/Bow and Arrow  
**

**Charlotte- Rue Wildflower, Eleven, Throwing knives**


	3. Host to Tributes

**Hi everyone! This is my second update this week... any reviews? I want FEEDBACK!  
**

**BTW... how many of you guys are interested in original stories, Shugo Chara, or Rozen Maiden? Probably I'm going to write some. Obviously the originals are on FictionPress... I'm still AuricEspeon on that. I have a WiP but I don't have my muse... next time I should write at least three chapters first, shouldn't I...?  
**

**Also- I want to know what you guys think on updating. Extra long chapters (5,000 words minimum each time) but every-two-week updates, or medium long chapters (like my current rate, 2,000 as the minimum) once per week, or short (800 to 1,500 words) with twice a week updates?  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games or anything related to it, such as the idea of swords. I do, however, own Cassie. Everyone else either built their own OC or I created it for them.  
**

**Author's notes**

Story**  
**

"Talking"

_'Thoughts'  
_

___TIME _

___"Computerized_ _Voice"_

'Written Material'

Place

* * *

_100 PANEM, THRONE ROOM, 3;00 PM  
_

**Christina's PoV**_  
_

"...and they fight to the death." Katniss finishes. I stifle a yawn as Katniss continues to drone on. Then I realise what she's talking about has become more interesting. "Because you shall be staying here for a long time, as I have talked to servants who have set up rooms for each of you. Kaarid **pronounced kah-RID **will lead the boys to the boys' rooms. I will take the girls to their rooms.

"You will be trained in whatever weapon you are most talented in. Tomorrow, be here at seven o'clock morning. We will test your weapons today and our previous winners will train you personally tomorrow.

"Today is Sunday. Also tomorrow, we will have organised schedules for each of you. We expect the schedules to be followed strictly. Now, file into two lines, girls and boys. Kaarid, meet back here at four o'clock with the boys. Don't be late." Katniss commands. The scientist nods, and I take him to be Kaarid.

"Alright, boys! Let's go!" he cries, smiling brightly at the six boys. He takes the hand of Chris- the closest one to him- and begins to skip eccentrically towards the door at the left.

"Girls, follow me," says Katniss. I'm the first one to follow her, and everyone else follows my lead. Katniss takes us to a long hallway, filled with bright tapestries of what I assume are past Hunger Games, and paintings of past winners. I admire each work of art, being the type of person who likes to draw and paint.

Finally, the hallway ends. It leads into a large room. There are twelve doors, like they were made for each of us. I guess that they are for the female tributes each year. Katniss tells us to find the one with our name on it. I briefly wonder how they know our names, until I realise that we had used our names in the test for the districts. I quickly discover that the door furthest to the right is mine. There are little engravings of wheat next to the onyx plate with my name.

"You may enter your room. Become acquainted to it, and also redress. We have laid out clothing for you on the beds. Feel free to socialise with each other when you are done. I will call you when we should leave." she adds. We all nod in understanding.

When I walk into the room, the first thing I notice is the wall. It was a creme colour, but there's a tiny crack, straight up and down the wall, before curving and going down again. I laugh, realising it's a door. It was subtle enough to not be noticed, but obvious enough to be seen once you knew it was there.

As soon as I finish my musing, I look on my bed. It was covered in gold-coloured silk bedspread, and there were three fluffy pillows, covered in and ivory-coloured pillowcase. On the bed, just as Katniss had said there would be, there was a dress on my bed, as well as a pair of shoes at the feet of the bed.

The dress is a pale yellow knee-length dress with a wide sash across my waist. I knot it into an even bow after I put it on. The skirt fans out from the sash, kind of like a pleated skirt, but more intricate. The hem of the dress is embroidered with gold wheat. The dress has a curved neckline with long sleeves, hugging my arms and becoming looser at the elbows. The shoes are golden gladiator sandals.

I take a few more minutes to study my room after I finish putting on the clothing. I note the oak desk in the corner, and the drawers next to it on the wall, also made of oak. Next to it is an empty metal stand **not the music kind, but like the desk**. I turn in a neat circle, examining the room one last time, before exiting the room.

In the room that led to our bedrooms, all of us were present. Only Katniss hadn't emerged. Each of us were wearing dresses and fancy shoes.**  
**

Maria is wearing a dark blue dress that ended in the middle of her calves. It is slightly longer at the back than it was in the front, and it is supported only by straps. The neckline is another scoop neckline. Her shoes are sky blue sandals, with a flower at the middle, each strap adorned with tiny embroideries of a gem in a brilliant cut.

Erin's dress is black and pink color, the top made from silk, a knee-length dress with a tulle ruffled skirt, the ruffles each alternating from pink to black and vice-versa. The last ruffle us pink with black swords designs all over it. She wears a pair of shiny black patent flats with a sparkly pink tip.

Anna has on a purple velvet dress with a fold-over neckline and short sleeves, like she usually wears those sweater dreses, but more formal. It reaches a little past her knees, paired with velvety purple flats.

Serena's dress is just a little higher than her knee. It's straps are thin, with satin underneath the sparkly green tulle. The green dress is paired with matching shiny green patent flats with a ribbon lacing around the edges.

Charlotte's dress is bright red. It looks like mine, but instead of wheat at the bottom, it's apples, peaches, and various other fruits. She's wearing red flats with a satin ribbon at the tip.

We begin to converse together, squealing about our rooms and commenting on each others dresses. I especially like Anna's and Serena's.

I'm just about to tell Charlotte about my room when I hear a door opening. I turn around to look, and Katniss is standing at the door we had come into the room from.

"Girls, please come," says Katniss. Now, she's wearing a sparkly blue off-the-shoulder dress that goes to the floor. "We must leave."

* * *

_100 PANEM, THRONE ROOM, 3;00 PM_

**Chris's PoV**_  
_

The mad scientist- well, Kaarid, if that's his name- takes my hand. I want to snatch it away, but he begins to drag me along, skipping and generally being happy-go-lucky. I wonder where all his energy comes from.

Luke is snickering at me. I glare at him. "Hey!" I hiss. "This was _no__t _my idea!" He just laughs louder. Nick gives me a mocking 'haha' and Michael smiles in amusement. Ian stumbles elaborately (on purpose) and barely misses me with his wildly flailing arms as Kaarid drags me away. Aidan runs in front of me, sticking out his fit to trip me.

We reach an elaborate door decorated with rubies and sapphires, even the occasional diamond. Kaarid pushes us inside.

"Welcome, welcome!" he says jovially. "This will be your rooms until the Hunger Games! Then we will send the winner- if one of you six win- back to your time!"

He forces us into our rooms. I'm pushed into one decorated with an emerald.

Inside, the walls are earthy brown and leafy green. There's a mural of a tree so realistic I almost think it's a window outside. I touch it, but it feels like a wall. Definitely _not_ a window.

I turn to the bed. The sheets are blue- my favorite color- silk, the pillow fluffed in a plain white pillowcase. Next to it is a large oak desk with a large royal red velvet armchair. A closet was near the desk. There's a suit on it. I put it on and walk out.

Each of us had been forced- well, actually some of us looked okay with it- into a suit. They were all black and white, with only subtle differences.

All of them were made up of silk. The dress shirt was white, as were the socks, which were made of cotton. The dress trousers were black, as was the suit's jacket. There was also a tie. Each button was white, with special symbols.

For District One, there was the symbol of a diamond. District Two's symbol was a sword and shield crossing each other. The District Four button had a symbol depicting a fish caught in a net and a trident stabbing the fish. The District Seven symbol was of trees, and one tree was on the ground, its trunk broken. District Eight had a picture of knitting needles and a piece of knitting. Last of all, District Eleven had a simple depiction of an apple.

Soon, Kaarid announces that it's time to go. All of us boys file into a line and walk back through the curved hallway that we had come from. We are led into a large room filled with a long table and seats. The table was piled with food. My mouth begins to water as I smell the delicious scents that waft to my nose.

About a third of the seats were already filled, all of them on the left side of the table.

"Arrange to sit by District!" barks Kaarid, suddenly serious. "Sit across from your District partner- if you have one. If you don't, just sit across the other person that doesn't have one."

Each of the boys, including me, scramble to find the seat across from our District partner. I sit down across from Christina, who glances at my shirt's buttons.

"Hey, Rue. Did you see the pattern on Ni- Carlos' buttons?" Erin asks. Charlotte nods. The girls begin to socialise with each other, and I turn awkwardly to Nick. He shrugs at me.

"Everyone, may I have your attention!" Katniss calls.

We turn to her. Katniss just rolls her eyes impatiently.

"We will be eating with the tributes for this year. I expect you to be polite. Do not give away information about how you came to be here. If they ask, say that you were invited from the Capitol." she says commandingly. We nod.

"There is about ten minutes before they should come here. Please wait." Kaarid adds.

After ten minutes has passed, I have become extremely restless. Finally, this year's tributes file into the room.

"Please find a seat with your District partner," says Kaarid again. They do. I carefully edge away from the girl in District Two. She looks threatening, with her sharp black eyes, and wears a scowl on her face.

"You may begin to eat." Katniss finally says. I grin, and dig into the food eagerly.

"_Finnal_, manners exist for a reason," I hear Erin say disapprovingly. "Don't be a disgrace to the Capitol."

I look to Finnal, and see him wolfing down the food just as eagerly, if not more eagerly, than I. His chin was already stained slightly with the red sauce from the spaghetti at their end of the table. Akina wipes her mouth daintily, glancing at him in disdain.

"What?" I hear him ask.

I shake my head.

Hopeless.

* * *

_100 PANEM, THRONE ROOM, 7:00 AM_

**Michael's PoV  
**

"Everyone, please awaken!" Katniss calls. Next to me, Luke snaps awake and straightens himself. I raise an eyebrow at him. He shrugs.

"Excuse me for not being awake," he says nastily, rubbing his eyes. Katniss continues, "Today, I have organised the top user of each weapon we have, not including guns, that has won the Hunger Games. I will introduce each of them. **By the way, these will all be made up (mostly).**

"For bow and arrow, that will be myself. For knives and daggers, including throwing knives, will be Candice. For usage of poison, that will be Marina. Trident will be Marina and Finnick **I'm not sure if he died in Mockingjay, and I'm too lazy to check, so Finnick is alive in my story**. Axes will be under the watch of Thresh **not the same Thresh, but one of his relatives named this guy after Thresh, and he won**, as will physical fighting. Swords and spears will be under the care of Oris**.** Also doing swords is Crystal. Everything else will be managed by Kaarid." she finishes. "Now we will test you for the weapons."

Kaarid brings out a rack filled with weapons.

"These are the weapons that are available in the Hunger Games." he explains. "We will test you manually. While we test, you may discuss amongst yourselves."

"This is so weird!" Rue whispers to me.

"I know," I reply. "It's crazy! Isn't this dangerous? Look, the arrows have real points!"

Kaarid calls Maria and I. We are the first to go up. We're shown everything. First is the trident, then the sword. We go through each one. Every time we use a weapon, Kaarid makes a mark on a little piece of paper. Finally, they get to the last one, the spear. Kaarid makes the final mark, and dismisses them. Next is Luke and Erin.

Everyone else is tested, then finally Kaarid announces the results.

"Everyone, we will now announce the results.

"First of all, in District One, Martin has received the axe and physical strength training. Kat has received nunchaku **yes, it is in my story** training.

"Secondly, in District Two, Krit has received spear, knife, shruiken, and physical strength training. Elise has received throwing knife, shruiken, and poison training."

I didn't hear very much after that, but enough to know who got what. I was surprised at the physical strength, but I was happy with the axe training.

Finally, we were given our schedules.

Time for a new day.

* * *

**For the clothes, I will design them, color them, and put them on my DeviantArt account when I'm done. I'll also include a better cover and change it on here to. Most likely I'll take real-life pictures of them as children from a yearbook and scan them onto the computer then edit them to make them bigger and in black-and-white and then write 'The Futuristic Past' on it. I'll need the permission of the OC owners...  
**

**Well guys? Any of my friends reading this (cough, Charlotte's OC owner, cough, cough), could you tell everyone else (yeah, I have no contact...) once break is over?  
**

**My DeviantArt account's link will be put onto my profile page.  
**

**BOYS  
**

**Martin Melrose, One, Axe  
**

**Krit Megrid, Two, Physical/knife/shruiken/spear  
**

******Finnal (nicknamed sewer-boy on occasion) Hsing, Four, Sword/trident  
**

**Alex Chicken, Seven, Machete  
**

******Max Chambers, Eight, Blow darts/knife**  


**********Carlos Santana, Eleven, Physical/spears  
**

**GIRLS  
**

**Kat Citty, One, Nunchaku  
**

**Elise Chang, Two, Poison/shruiken/throwing knives  
**

**Akina Feng, Four, Poison/dagger/sword  
**

**Luna Lin, Eight, Knife  
**

**Katherine (nicknamed Rina) Tang, Nine, Poison/Bow and Arrow  
**

**Rue Wildflower, Eleven, Throwing knives  
**


	4. Formalities and Introductions

**Heya! I have decided to skip the explaining, since all of the rules are pretty clear anyway, and if you don't know the rules, go back and read the books one more time. If you haven't read the books, what the crap are you doing here?  
**

**More name changes! Tara has been changed to Tessa.  
**

**Plus, you might have been wondering about my British spellings. If you have checked my profile, it says that I live in America. I do. It's just that I like the British spellings more...  
**

**Another thing! After this, I will only be updating on Saturdays or Sundays, not both! I will also update when I have time on days without school, though.  
**

******Also, I realised I have not been putting disclaimers. Oops! Well, here it is!**  


**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games.  
**

**Author's notes**

Story**  
**

"Talking"

_'Thoughts'  
_

___TIME _

___"Computerized Voice"  
_

* * *

_THE TIME OF THE HUNGER GAMES, UNKNOWN DATE, 2:59 PM  
_

**Cody's PoV**_  
_

"...and they fight to the death." Katniss finishes. I stifle a yawn as Katniss continues to drone on. Then I realise what she's talking about has become more interesting. "Because you are going to be staying here for a long period of time, as I have been talking, servants have been setting up rooms for each of you. Kaarid **pronounced kah-RID **will lead the boys to the boys' rooms. I will take the girls to their rooms.

"You will be trained in whatever weapon you are most talented in. Tomorrow, be here at seven o'clock morning. We will test your weapons today and our previous winners will train you personally tomorrow.

"Today is Sunday. Also tomorrow, we will have organised schedules for each of you. We expect the schedules to be followed strictly. Now, file into two lines, females and males. Kaarid, meet back here at four o'clock with the boys. Don't be late." Katniss commands. The scientist nods, and I take him to be Kaarid.

"Alright, boys! Let's go!" he cries.

* * *

_SEPTEMBER 28TH, YEARS OF THE HUNGER GAMES, SUNDAY, 3:07_

**Katherine's PoV  
**

"Girls, follow me," says Katniss. I'm the first one to follow her, and everyone else follows my lead. Katniss takes us to a long hallway, filled with bright tapestries of the past Hunger Games, and paintings of past winners. I admire each work of art, being the type of person who likes to draw and paint.

Finally, the hallway ends. It leads into a large room. There are twelve doors, like they were made for each of us. I guess that they are for the female tributes each year. Katniss tells us to find the one with our name on it. I briefly wonder how they know our names, until I realise that we had used our names in the test for the districts. I quickly discover that the door furthest to the right is mine. There are little engravings of wheat next to the onyx plate with my name.

"You may enter your room. Become acquainted to it, and also redress. We have laid out clothing for you on the beds. Feel free to socialise with each other when you are done. I will call you when we should leave." she adds. We all nod in understanding.

When I walk into the room, the first thing I notice is the wall. It was a creme colour, but there's a tiny crack, straight up and down the wall, before curving and going down again. I laugh, realising it's a door. It was subtle enough to not be noticed, but obvious enough to be seen once you knew it was there.

As soon as I finish my musing, I look on my bed. It was covered in gold-coloured silk bedspread, and there were three fluffy pillows, covered in and ivory-coloured pillowcase. On the bed, just as Katniss had said there would be, there was a dress on my bed, as well as a pair of shoes at the feet of the bed.

The dress is a pale yellow knee-length dress with a wide sash across my waist. I knot it into an even bow after I put it on. The skirt fans out from the sash, kind of like a pleated skirt, but more intricate. The hem of the dress is embroidered with gold wheat. The dress has a curved neckline with long sleeves, hugging my arms and becoming looser at the elbows. The shoes are golden gladiator sandals.

I take a few more minutes to study my room after I finish putting on the clothing. I note the oak desk in the corner, and the drawers next to it on the wall, also made of oak. Next to it is an empty metal stand **not the music kind, but like the desk**. I turn in a neat circle, examining the room one last time, before exiting the room.

In the room that led to our bedrooms, most of us were ready. Only Leah still hadn't come out. **Next is dresses... I took forever typing them, but you don't have to read it. Just skip it or something.**

Kat is wearing a dark blue dress that ended in the middle of her calves. It is slightly longer at the back than it was in the front, and it is supported only by straps. The neckline is another scoop neckline. Her shoes are sky blue sandals, with a flower at the middle.

Jessica's dress is black and pink colour, a knee-length dress with thin straps and a ruffled skirt, the ruffles each alternating from pink to black and vice-versa. The last ruffle us pink with black leaf designs all over it. She wears a pair of black flats with a sparkly pink tip.

Akina has on a purple dress with a fold-over neckline and short sleeves, like she usually wears, but more formal. It reaches a little past her knees, paired with purple flats.

Sophie and Tessa have matching dresses of dark blue. They are both supported by thin straps and reach a little before the knees, but they wear different shoes. Sophie has on white flats, and Tessa has ivory high heels, with the heel about an inch high.

Luna's dress is just a little higher than her knee. It's straps are thin, like Jessica's, and made of silk, with material **like on tutus** underneath. The green dress is paired with matching green heels about half an inch tall.

Mia has on a light pink satin dress that goes down to her ankles. The hem has tiny lights sewn into the fabric, and it has a sash just like mine. It was tied into a bow like mine. With the dress, she wears pink flats.

Juliana's dress is purple, like Akina's. It is a halter neck dress, and the hem is at her knees. It also has the little pleats like mine, but no sash. Her flats are lavender-coloured, and the tip is also sparkly, like Jessica's.

Rue's dress is bright red. It looks like mine, but instead of wheat at the bottom, it's apples, peaches, and various other fruits. She's wearing red thong sandals.

Cassie is wearing a dress that's knee-length, and the colour is black. At the hem, there are waves of sparky white sequins. The straps holding the dress up are also sparkly and her shoes are silver ballet flats.

All of us except for Leah are commenting on each others' appearances when Leah finally walks out of her room.

Leah is wearing a black strapless dress that goes down to the middle of her thigh. She's wearing black heels, about one and a half inches tall, and I hear Cassie whisper to Jessica, "She looks like she's a super short teenager," and I see Jessica nod in agreement. I silently agree as well.

"Girls, please come," says Katniss. Now, she's wearing a sparkly blue off-the-shoulder dress that goes to the floor. "We must leave."

* * *

**Like I said, there will still be changes when I get the chance to bring home my pet index cards. OH CRAP! I FORGOT TO BRING IT AGAIN! Stupid me... Whatever. I'll just bring it next time.  
**

**For the dresses... I don't know very many. I'm not the girly-girl type, or the sporty type, but more like tomboy-ish nerd girl. I tried to describe what I'd like, and if anyone can find pictures to fit the dresses, that would be great!  
**

**By the way, for Kat's shoe, it's on Land's End's website. It's the Arabella Flower Sandal or something like that... just the colour won't be there.  
**

**Well, here are the names. I'll leave it here for a long time, I think...  
**

**BOYS  
**

**Chris: Alex Chicken, Seven  
**

**Ian: Max Seclen, Eight  
**

**Michael: Martin Melrose, One  
**

**Nick: Carlos Santana, Eleven  
**

**Aidan: Finnal (nicknamed sewer-boy on occasion) Sun, Four  
**

**Luke: Krit Megrid, Two  
**

**Devin: David Firuffo, Three  
**

**Joseph: Jonathan (nicknamed Jon) Malaqui, Twelve  
**

**Hamilton: Cody Wu, Nine  
**

**Albert: Justin Yang, Six  
**

**Eric: Aaron Lee, Ten  
**

**Oliver: Ollie Zhang, Five  
**

**GIRLS  
**

**Jasmine: Jessica (nicknamed Jess) Chang, Seven  
**

**Erin: Cassiopeia (nicknamed Cassie) Wang, Two  
**

**Charlotte: Rue Wildflower, Eleven  
**

**Anna: Akina Feng, Four  
**

**Serena: Luna Lin, Eight  
**

**Christina: Katherine (nicknamed Rina) Tang, Nine  
**

**Maria: Kat Citty, One  
**

**Julia: Juliana (nicknamed Julia, Ana, and Lia) Peng, Ten  
**

**Sophia: Sophie Gu, Five  
**

**Maya: Mia Chou, Three  
**

**TingTing: Tessa Lu, Six  
**

**Lia: Leah Malyna, Twelve  
**


	5. Weaponry and Training

**Well... I'm back again! Does anybody have certain characters that they like yet? I mean, obviously, it's kind of hard to know what their personalities are right now, but still...  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games.  
**

**Author's notes**

Story**  
**

"Talking"

_'Thoughts'  
_

___TIME _

___"Computerized Voice"  
_

* * *

_THE TIME OF THE HUNGER GAMES, UNKNOWN DATE, 3:58 PM  
_

**Aaron's** **PoV**

Each of us had been forced into a suit. They were all black and white, with only subtle differences.

All of them were made up of silk. The dress shirt was white, as were the socks, which were made of cotton. The dress trousers were black, as was the suit's jacket. There was also a tie. Each button was white, with special symbols.

For District One, there was the symbol of luxurious beds. District Two's symbol was a sword and shield crossing each other. On the District Three button, there was a symbol of technology, which was light bulbs. The District Four button had a symbol depicting a fish caught in a net and a trident stabbing the fish. District Five's symbol was a picture of wires **okay, I don't know what kind of power, so I'm assuming electric power...** interlacing with each other. For the District Six button, there was a long train on train tracks. The District Seven symbol was of trees, and one tree was on the ground, its trunk broken. District Eight had a picture of knitting needles and a piece of knitting. On District Nine's button, there was a symbol of numerous waves of grain. For District Ten's button, the symbol was a cow and a pig being slaughtered for meat. District Eleven had a simple depiction of an apple. Last of all was District Twelve's button's symbol, which was a hard hat and other mining materials.

Soon, Kaarid announces that it's time to go. All of us boys file into a line and walk back through the curved hallway that we had come from. We were led into a large room filled with a long table and seats. The table was piled with food. My mouth begins to water as I smell the delicious scents that waft to my nose.

About a third of the seats were already filled, all of them on the left side of the table.

"Arrange to sit by District!" barks Kaarid. "Sit across from your District partner."

Each of the boys, including me, scramble to find the seat across from our District partner. I sit down across from Juliana, who glances at my shirt's buttons.

"Did you see Kat's face when she saw your buttons?" she asks.

"It was absolutely hilarious!" giggles Katherine. The girls begin to socialise with each other, and I turn awkwardly to Cody. He shrugs at me.

"Everyone, may I have your attention!" Katniss calls.

"Yes," Krit says. Cassie lets out a soft giggle at his remark. Katniss just rolls her eyes impatiently.

"We will be eating with the tributes for this year. I expect you to be polite. Do not give away information about how you came to be here. If they ask, say that you were invited from the Capitol." she says commandingly. We nod.

"There is about ten minutes before they should come here. Please wait." Kaarid adds.

After ten minutes has passed, I have become extremely restless. Finally, this year's tributes file into the room.

"Please find a seat with your District partner," says Kaarid again. They do. Leah carefully edges away from the girl in District One. She looks slightly threatening, with her sharp black eyes, and wears a scowl on her face.

"You may begin to eat." Katniss finally says. I grin, and dig into the food eagerly.

"_Finnal_, manners exist for a reason," I hear Cassie say. "Don't be a disgrace to the Capitol."

I look to Finnal, and see him wolfing down the food just as eagerly, if not more eagerly, than I. His chin was already stained slightly with the red sauce from the spaghetti at their end of the table. Akina wipes her mouth daintily, glancing at him in disdain.

"What?" I hear him ask.

I shake my head.

Hopeless.

* * *

_THE TIME OF THE HUNGER GAMES, DAY AFTER 'FEAST', 7:00 AM_

**Cassie's PoV  
**

"Everyone, please awaken!" Katniss calls. Next to me, Mia snaps awake and straightens her body. I raise an eyebrow at her. She shrugs. Katniss continues, "Today, I have organised the top user of each weapon we have, not including guns, that has won the Hunger Games. I will introduce each of them. **By the way, these will all be made up (mostly).**

"For bow and arrow, that will be myself. For knives and daggers, including throwing knives, will be Candice **heh, the name comes from Pokemon**. For usage of poison, that will be Marina. Trident will be Marina and Finnick **I'm not sure if he died in Mockingjay, and I'm too lazy to check, so Finnick is alive in my story**. Axes will be under the watch of Thresh **not the same Thresh, but one of his relatives named this guy after Thresh, and he won**, as will physical fighting. Swords and spears will be under the care of Silver **I'm using so many Pokemon names**. Also doing swords is Crystal. Everything else will be managed by Kaarid." she finishes. "Now we will test you for the weapons."

Kaarid brings out a rack filled with weapons.

"These are the weapons that are available in the Hunger Games." he explains. "We will test you manually. While we test, you may discuss amongst yourselves."

"This is so weird!" Rue whispers to me.

"No, _duh_," I reply.

"I think you're going to get one of those throwing ones," she whispers. I roll my eyes.

"I fail at throwing. Don't push it." I reply blandly.

Kat and Martin are the first to go up. They're shown everything. Each time they use a weapon, Kaarid makes a mark on a little piece of paper. Finally, they get to the last one, the spear. Kaarid makes the final mark, and dismisses them. Next is Krit and I.

Kaarid leads us to the first weapon, a trident. As I wait, I twirl it like a baton. Krit tries to mimic me, but fails. Kaarid makes the first mark, before taking us to the next weapon, the sword. We're tested in each one (although I didn't see how they got the results) before we're dismissed, like Kat and Martin.

Everyone else is tested, then finally Kaarid announces the results.

"Everyone, we will now announce the results.

"First of all, in District One, Martin has received the axe and physical strength training. Kat has received nunchaku **yes, it is in my story** training.

"Secondly, in District Two, Krit has received spear, knife, shruiken, and physical strength training. Cassie has received throwing knife, shruiken, and poison training."

I didn't hear very much after that, but enough to know who got what. **Now this will be at the end to, BTW** I was too surprised at getting shruiken and throwing knives. Poison training I could understand much better.

Finally, we were given our schedules.

Time for a new day.

* * *

**Well, how was it? So far, only three people have reviewed, and two of those people are people that I actually know. Is my story unloved? Does any authors like it? Please, please, PLEASE give my your opinion! I need it to be an awesome author!  
**

**Also, I had thought of a background story to how the Hunger Games restarted. It will completely ignore the epilogue at the end of Mockingjay, and I will post it soon. If anybody wants to check it out, just go to my profile sometime to see what's up.  
**

**Well, this time, I finally got a change. I think that's it, though, for changes. Also, I will be (finally) editing it to be in District order, for my own purposes, but still.  
**

**BOYS  
**

**Michael: Martin Melrose, One, Axe  
**

**Luke: Krit Megrid, Two, Physical/knife/shruiken/spear  
**

**Devin: David Firuffo, Three, Sword/dagger  
**

******Aidan: Finnal (nicknamed sewer-boy on occasion) Sun, Four, Sword/trident  
**

******Oliver: Ollie Zhang, Five, Physical/sword  
**

**Albert: Justin Yang, Six, Sword/dagger/axe  
**

**Chris: Alex Chicken, Seven, Machete  
**

******Ian: Max Chambers, Eight, Blowdarts/knife**  


******Hamilton: Cody Wu, Nine, Physical/axe  
**

******Er****ic: Aaron Lee, Ten, Physical/sword  
**

**********Nick: Carlos Santana, Eleven, Physical/spears  
**

**********Joseph: Jonathan (nicknamed Jon) Malaqui, Twelve, Sword/axe  
**

**GIRLS  
**

**Maria: Kat Citty, One, Nunchaku  
**

**Erin: Cassiopeia (nicknamed Cassie) Wang, Two, Poison/shruiken/throwing knives  
**

**Maya: Mia Chou, Three, Poison/knife  
**

**Anna: Akina Feng, Four, Poison/dagger/sword  
**

**Sophia: Sophie (nicknamed Soph) Gu, Five, Shruiken/knife  
**

**TingTing: Tessa Lu, Six, Poison/knife/sword  
**

**Jasmine: Jessica (nicknamed Jess) Chang, Seven, Dagger/knife  
**

**Serena: Luna Lin, Eight, Knife  
**

**Christina: Katherine (nicknamed Rina) Tang, Nine, Poison/Bow and Arrow  
**

**Julia: Juliana (nicknamed Julia, Ana, and Lia) Peng, Ten, Dagger/sword  
**

**Charlotte: Rue Wildflower, Eleven, Throwing knives  
**

**Lia: Leah Malyna, Twelve, Poison/knife  
**


	6. Breakfast

**Well... I'm back again! Does anybody have certain characters that they like yet? I mean, obviously, it's kind of hard to know what their personalities are right now, but still...  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games.  
**

**Author's notes**

Story**  
**

"Talking"

_'Thoughts'  
_

___TIME _

___"Computerized_ _Voice"_

'Written Material'

Place

**(Asian Food Item [said in Mandarin, not English!])  
**

* * *

_THE TIME OF THE HUNGER GAMES, UNKNOWN DATE, 8:00 AM  
_

**Kat's PoV**

The testing had taken a full hour. As I was given my schedule, I scan it quickly. At eight o'clock, I had breakfast at the Dining Hall, which ended at nine. There was a little asterisk next to it. At the bottom, the note said, 'Optional (you may arrive later than the time it starts, you may skip)' Behind the schedule was an electronic map. It shows me my present location, and the whole building.

"Everyone, you may go to your first class!" Kaarid announces.

Everyone left. It felt like how I imagine middle school. Everyone pushes their way to the Dining Hall. I arrive first.

In amazement, I stare around the large room. It looks just like at school, but more luxurious.

The room has white and black cafeteria tables with black seats attached to them. The seats are padded with grey silk cushions, and have backs, unlike our school cafeteria's chairs.

Also unlike our cafeteria, it is a buffet-like line. From where I stood, I can see large stacks of pancakes and waffles.

"Hurry up," says a male voice impatiently. I turned around, seeing a boy with darker skin, but not quite African brown. He had brownish-blackish hair. His eyes tilted slightly upward. I remembered that he was Justin.

"If you moved slower, then maybe I wouldn't have to hurry up," I reply coolly. He shrugs.

"Whatever. Just move." he replies.

'_What if I don't_?' I think, but I move anyways.

Another boy pushes past me. Then another. Both of them are chubby, but one of them wears glasses and the other doesn't. The one without glasses also has shorter, spikier hair, and yellower skin.

I roll my eyes, but start moving ahead again. Most of the boys are racing to the line, while the girls are slowing and talking amongst themselves. I join Rue, Juliana, Akina, and Katherine and we begin to talk about how it was here so far. Luna walks alone, glaring at Cassie, who subtly glares back. Cassie talks with the Oriental girls that apparently go to her Chinese School (but she was very touchy about her Taiwanese-ness). Leah is with them, though she looks more like Justin- non-Oriental - than Taiwanese.

Finally, I reach the line. Cassie and her friends are the last ones. As I reach the line, I smell the pancakes, waffles, and I see bagels, croissants, and toast. There's cereal, oatmeal, and even fruits. At the end of the buffet line, there are sausage links and eggs. After that, there's a little container filled with little boxes of maple syrup and butter, pepper and salt packs, and sugar packs. Then I see another buffet line. On it are different foods- ones I don't know the names of. Cassie and her friends gasp.

"OMG! Those are **(steamed buns) I don't know how to put the Chinese on this, so I'm just putting it like that, and yes, these are real foods that I eat. They are very common in Taiwan** and **(pork buns)**! They have them here?" gasps Jessica.

"Seriously?" Cassie asks, standing on her toes like a pointe ballerina (minus the pointe shoes)** the real person that owns this character can actually do that** and sees the foods that I've never seen before. "Gods! These people are seriously..."

"Seriously, what?" Sophie and Tessa ask at the same time. "Oh! 68% Twins!" **This is this ongoing thing with them and my DSi... ask if you want to  
**

"Shut up about that. It's getting annoying," groans Jessica.

"Seriously annoying," finishes Cassie. I wonder what the '68 percent twins' thing came from.

I went through the line, grabbing a plate as well. There was a message board, reading:

'INSTRUCTIONS OF DINING HALL'

I quickly read the instructions, and memorized them. It said to leave all dining ware on the tables when done, to use different dishes each time, and to eat at least one meal a day.

At the front was a box of cereal. I read the label- it said that it had nuts in it. I didn't particularly like nuts, so I passed the box, sliding the plate forwards. I stack my plate with a pile of three pancakes.

I don't bother to get anything else but butter and maple syrup. I pass the other lines and go to the area labeled 'DRINKS'. There is another message board next to it. I scan the board quickly. It told me to put a cup underneath one of the nozzles and say what I want while pressing the 'VOICE' button, and also to say the temperature of the drink. After that, I was to press the nozzle button to activate the nozzle, then stop when I felt like it, then I could leave.

"Interesting..." says a voice behind me. I turn around and see Mia with one of the foods from the second buffet line. "I wonder how they make this work. Obviously they don't need voice recognition, but the fact that this is built like this..."

"Uh, Mia, this is totally not the time to be mooning over how the machine is built," says Sophie.

"Oh! Right, let me get the stuff... what do you want, Sophie?" she says, jumping in surprise.

I smile somewhat wistfully.

_'If only I could have friends like that...'_

* * *

_SEPTEMBER 7TH, HUNGER GAMES, 9:00 AM_

**Krit's PoV**

"...so your schedule is like that? Lucky me! I have these classes with you! I almost wish we had the same weapons..." says Mia to Cassie, Jessica, Sophie, and Tessa.

"Hey, Cassie, what's your schedule?" says Finnal, appearing next to Cassie.

"Ew! Get away from me, sewer-boy! I do not want sewer-germs to be getting on me," Cassie squeals.

"Yeah, go away, Finnal," Mia adds. Cassie pockets her electronic schedule and begins to walk away.

"Later, guys! Have to find Rue and Kat, plus the rest of the guys." Cassie calls. She turns around smiling like she doesn't usually at school.

"Cassie!" I say loudly, gesturing at her. She turns around, and immediately spots me.

"Hey, Krit. Where's Kat and Rue?" she asks, running over.

"They're over there. Have you seen Carlos?" I reply.

"No, I've been talking with my Chinese School friends," she explains. "Thanks, though!"

"See ya," I say, staring at her back.

_'I wonder if she likes anyone?'_

* * *

**So, that's that for this chapter! Any opinions this time? Well, now I'm taking off who the original people are, since most of them weren't mentioned except here and briefly for the intro of the people in To be Named Unlike Birth. If you want to see it, though, just go back to the chapters before this.  
**

**BOYS  
**

**Martin Melrose, One, Axe  
**

**Krit Megrid, Two, Physical/knife/shruiken/spear  
**

**David Firuffo, Three, Sword/dagger  
**

******Finnal (nicknamed sewer-boy on occasion) Sun, Four, Sword/trident  
**

******Ollie Zhang, Five, Physical/sword  
**

**Justin Yang, Six, Sword/dagger/axe  
**

**Alex Chicken, Seven, Machete  
**

******Max Chambers, Eight, Blowdarts/knife**  


******Cody Wu, Nine, Physical/axe  
**

**Aaron Lee, Ten, Physical/sword  
**

**********Carlos Santana, Eleven, Physical/spears  
**

**********Jonathan (nicknamed Jon) Malaqui, Twelve, Sword/axe  
**

**GIRLS  
**

**Kat Citty, One, Nunchaku  
**

**Cassiopeia (nicknamed Cassie) Wang, Two, Poison/shruiken/throwing knives  
**

**Mia Chou, Three, Poison/knife  
**

**Akina Feng, Four, Poison/dagger/sword  
**

**Sophie (nicknamed Soph) Gu, Five, Shruiken/knife  
**

**Tessa Lu, Six, Poison/knife/sword  
**

**Jessica (nicknamed Jess) Chang, Seven, Dagger/knife  
**

**Luna Lin, Eight, Knife  
**

**Katherine (nicknamed Rina) Tang, Nine, Poison/Bow and Arrow  
**

**Juliana (nicknamed Julia, Ana, and Lia) Peng, Ten, Dagger/sword  
**

**Rue Wildflower, Eleven, Throwing knives  
**

**Leah Malyna, Twelve, Poison/knife  
**


	7. Classes

**OMG! I forgot that I was supposed to update on the weekend! Oops! Well, that's why this came so late. Sorry! Well, now that I'm done with that... does anybody have certain characters that they like yet? I mean, obviously, it's kind of hard to know what their personalities are right now, but still...  
**

**Well, I'd like to make some acknowledgements that I've never made... oops!  
**

**First, to all of my super awesome FRIEND reviewers that I can tell who they are:  
**

**'you sit next to me', HI! I am very hyper right now from eating FOOD! Well, of course you wouldn't like the last line, but, hey, you know what our 'group' is like! DON'T F***ING BLAME ME! Or, actually, you can blame me... LOL  
**

**'Sophia', well, it's just, erm, the Hunger Games are kind of 'I stab you, you get bloodied, you die, I WINS!', so I kind of have to kill you sometime in my story...  
**

**'jasmine', well, thanks! You need better comments...  
**

**Now for the people that I don't know, and reviewed anonymously!  
**

**'girl on fire m', thank you so much! I don't really think much of the plot, but I've already planned the ending and stuff, so yeah... whatever. Thanks, again!  
**

**'Patricia', are you somebody I know? I don't think so... well, thanks anyways!  
**

**Well, that's it! READ THE STORY NOW!  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games.  
**

**Author's notes**

Story**  
**

"Talking"

_'Thoughts'  
_

___TIME _

___"Computerized_ _Voice"_

'Written Material'

Place

**(Asian Food Item [said in Mandarin, not English!])  
**

* * *

_SEPTEMBER 7TH, HUNGER GAMES, 9:02_**  
**

**Rue's PoV  
**

By the time I reached my next class, survival skills, Kat and Cassie were already there. There were still three minutes before the class actually started, and Kat, Cassie, and I had decided to talk.

"Gosh! Is it just us in this class?" Kat says, tilting her head in surprise.

"Probably there's, like, six people in each class. That way, four classes are going on at the same time, and the people with breaks can do whatever, and prepare for their next class," Cassie muses thoughtfully. "Although that would be kind of weird..."

"That's true... it's like they do this during break," I laugh, putting my thumb between my pointer and middle finger, then pushing it into my other pointer and middle fingers.

"Rue!" Cassie gasps, but she can't hold back her giggles. Kat laughs along as well. Two boys walk in- Martin and an Oriental boy - and they look over to us. I begin to snort and we laugh even harder.

A last boy walks into the room. This one, I know well, and dislike very much. His short black hair spikes up, his roundish elliptical glasses framing his dark brown eyes, his nose large with a red dot on it.

Finnal.

* * *

_SEPTEMBER 7TH, HUNGER GAMES, 9:05_

**Alex's PoV**

Nine oh five. Class starts. In my class was Max, David, two Oriental girls- Tessa and Sophie, I think- and Juliana.

My first class was Survival. The teacher, Katniss, told us the important things to survival. I listened, but quickly became bored. There were still thirty minutes left to the lesson. Max, sitting next to me, was already sleeping. I smiled.

_'I guess he didn't sleep well yesterday,' _I thought. I feel my own head dropping, but I fight the drowsiness away. Listening to these classes could be the difference between life and death for me.

"Class, we will now be practising these tactics. Max, please wake up." Katniss says. I shake his shoulder.

"Max, wake up. We're doing fun stuff now," I whisper loudly. He opens his eyes slowly, suddenly realising where he is. He sits up straight, blushing in embarrassment. Katniss raises her eyebrows in amusement, before turning to the girls.

"Since Max was" - Katniss coughs pointedly - "ah, otherwise preoccupied, we will start with the girls. Girls, please stand up." Katniss says. The girls do. "We will be practising the art of creating and taming fire. Come here, and take these." she adds, holding up matches, two rocks- probably flint- and a stick, as well as a magnifying glass.

"Fire-making tools," David mutters. The girls each begin to attempt to make fire with the tools, starting with the matches. Juliana is the first to light the fire.

"Very nice, Juliana. Why don't you try the flint next?" Katniss comments. Finally, the girls finish.

"Boys, your turn."

* * *

**Sorry for the lameness, and how short it is! Sheesh, I need better endings. Also, or those of you that noticed, I made a cover on Paint, by mouse, so please don't judge my artistic skills by it! My handwriting is not usually like that!  
**

**Another thing- I'll probably gloss over the training. This will be a pretty short story in chapters, but their will probably be a sequel. I have stuff planned already...  
**

**BOYS  
**

**Martin Melrose, One, Axe  
**

**Krit Megrid, Two, Physical/knife/shruiken/spear  
**

**David Firuffo, Three, Sword/dagger  
**

******Finnal (nicknamed sewer-boy on occasion) Sun, Four, Sword/trident  
**

******Ollie Zhang, Five, Physical/sword  
**

**Justin Yang, Six, Sword/dagger/axe  
**

**Alex Chicken, Seven, Machete  
**

******Max Chambers, Eight, Blowdarts/knife**  


******Cody Wu, Nine, Physical/axe  
**

**Aaron Lee, Ten, Physical/sword  
**

**********Carlos Santana, Eleven, Physical/spears  
**

**********Jonathan (nicknamed Jon) Malaqui, Twelve, Sword/axe  
**

**GIRLS  
**

**Kat Citty, One, Nunchaku  
**

**Cassiopeia (nicknamed Cassie) Wang, Two, Poison/shruiken/throwing knives  
**

**Mia Chou, Three, Poison/knife  
**

**Akina Feng, Four, Poison/dagger/sword  
**

**Sophie (nicknamed Soph) Gu, Five, Shruiken/knife  
**

**Tessa Lu, Six, Poison/knife/sword  
**

**Jessica (nicknamed Jess) Chang, Seven, Dagger/knife  
**

**Luna Lin, Eight, Knife  
**

**Katherine (nicknamed Rina) Tang, Nine, Poison/Bow and Arrow  
**

**Juliana (nicknamed Julia, Ana, and Lia) Peng, Ten, Dagger/sword  
**

**Rue Wildflower, Eleven, Throwing knives  
**

**Leah Malyna, Twelve, Poison/knife  
**


	8. Two Battles, Four Rivals

**Hi again, everyone! Well, like I said last time, I'm going to be glossing over the classes, but I need some to get the characters' personalities to show.  
**

**Also, for the pairings poll, it's still on, and I'm pretty sure anybody can vote on it. If anyone's interested, but can't vote, you can do it by review, too. Depending on the results, there will be or will not be pairings in the sequel, since these people are a bit young for having romantic relationships right now, in my opinion.  
**

**I'm happy now! I had the last day of classes recently, so now I have more time to post and stuff! Yay! But, OMG, I thought I already posted this! Thank goodness I checked. Sorry for the super late update.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games.  
**

**Author's notes**

Story**  
**

"Talking"

_'Thoughts'  
_

___TIME _

___"Computerized_ _Voice"_

'Written Material'

Place

**(Asian Food Item [said in Mandarin, not English!])  
**

* * *

_SEPTEMBER 5TH, HUNGER GAMES__, 6:02 AM_**  
**

**Martin's PoV  
**

A year.

That's how long had passed since we first arrived. Exactly a year.

Everyone was experts now on their classes, so mostly we hung around like regular elementary-school age children.

That is, except for the fact armed fights broke out frequently, and that we were all smarter than we would have been at our own time. At home.

Now, instead of having six-person Hunger Games-related classes, we were having the same schedule as a fifth grader at our time would have, and after 'school' was out, there would be an hour of training right after, then a two hour break, a half-hour training period, and then we could do whatever we wanted until seven o'clock, which was dinner, then after dinner was free time. School started at eight fifteen, just like at our old school.

I stand up, stretching. Krit stirs and wakes up.

"Gah, Martin, be quieter," he mumbles.

"Whatever, Krit," I say, smiling. He stands up and begins to stretch as well.

Slowly, the other boys in the room begin to wake up. Each of us get dressed and begin to head out the door.

In the Dining hall, at seven thirty, the girls are already there. They're always there, except Leah, who comes later. Tessa is sometimes slightly later than the other girls, though always before Leah.

The girls that used to be in my school- Kat, Cassie, Akina, Luna, Katherine, Juliana, and Rue- are always grouped together, talking and giggling, with Cassie being the exception. She was always with 'the Fashionista group', as we boys called it-Sophie, Tessa, Jessica, Mia and her. Leah usually tagged along, but she clearly wasn't a real part of it.

The boys had groups too. There was the 'Asian group', made up of Finnal, Ollie, Justin, Cody, and Aaron. Then there was the 'American group', which was everyone else.

We ate breakfast, then went to class.

I now know Ollie, Justin, Cody, Sophie, Tessa, Jessica, Mia, and Leah a lot better than I used to. Ollie was rather random- he always randomly blurted out English (that Finnal assured me was completely unrelated to what was being spoken in Chinese) during his Chinese classes that I sometimes attended out of curiosity. Justin was much like Cassie in the fact that both of them liked to pick verbal fights. Cody was very athletic, and had good aim. Sophie was an extremely flexible person. She could dislocate her shoulder, and was a very bubbly person in general. Tessa was sometimes clumsy, but was a sassy type of girl that was very fashionable. Jessica was a crazy girl- like Rue- and obsessed over the things that she liked, such as dancing. Mia also liked to dance, and was flexible, though not nearly as flexible as Sophie. She could sometimes be crazy, but was usually a quiet-seeming girl, though she wasn't particularly quiet. Lastly was Leah, who was a tiny girl, and she seemed pretty spoiled. She wasn't very nice, always being hypocritical and such.

After meals was my first training.

"Yo, Martin!" says David loudly. "Challenge you,"

I raise my eyebrows, slightly surprised that he would challenge me.

"I accept," I say. "In the arena?"

"In the arena." he replies.

* * *

_SEPTEMBER 5TH, HUNGER GAMES, 7:13_

**Luna's PoV  
**

Martin and David's tournament had finished in a quick ten minutes, with Martin being the winner.

"Hey, Ugly," says a voice from my left. I turn my head, looking at the girl speaking- Cassie.

"What? I don't have time to talk with someone like you," I say coolly.

"Too bad. I was thinking that I would challenge you, but clearly you're too scared to even wait for the challenge," she taunts. My face feels hot at the comment.

"You... you never asked me it before!" I stammer.

"You didn't give me a chance," she replies smoothly, smirking at me as though she had already won. "Do you accept or not?"

"No," I say firmly.

"Of course you would say something like that! You're just afraid that you'd lose," Cassie snickers. I clench my fists. Unfortunately, Cassie sees.

"Getting angry, are you?" she ridicules. "You wouldn't win, even with it."

I realise that everyone is staring.

"Are you going to be the first person to reject an offer?" Rue asks, her voice innocent, but a harsh tone underlying it.

"F-fine! I accept!" I relent.

"Alright. Rue-" Cassie begins.

"Sure!" replies Rue, and she rushes to the referee square for practice. "Let the hundredth annual Hunger Games' fifty-eighth practice match... BEGIN!"

* * *

**Well, I don't really have anything to say here... please review! By the way, if it says 'dagger', that means that it's a knife that you can also throw. I don't think that's in real life, too, though...  
**

**BOYS  
**

**Martin Melrose, One, Axe  
**

**Krit Megrid, Two, Physical/knife/shruiken/spear  
**

**David Firuffo, Three, Sword/dagger  
**

******Finnal (nicknamed sewer-boy on occasion) Sun, Four, Sword/trident  
**

******Ollie Zhang, Five, Physical/sword  
**

**Justin Yang, Six, Sword/dagger/axe  
**

**Alex Chicken, Seven, Machete  
**

******Max Chambers, Eight, Blow darts/knife**  


******Cody Wu, Nine, Physical/axe  
**

**Aaron Lee, Ten, Physical/sword  
**

**********Carlos Santana, Eleven, Physical/spears  
**

**********Jonathan (nicknamed Jon) Malaqui, Twelve, Sword/axe  
**

**GIRLS  
**

**Kat Citty, One, Nunchaku  
**

**Cassiopeia (nicknamed Cassie) Wang, Two, Poison/shruiken/throwing knives  
**

**Mia Chou, Three, Poison/knife  
**

**Akina Feng, Four, Poison/dagger/sword  
**

**Sophie (nicknamed Soph) Gu, Five, Shruiken/knife  
**

**Tessa Lu, Six, Poison/knife/sword  
**

**Jessica (nicknamed Jess) Chang, Seven, Dagger/knife  
**

**Luna Lin, Eight, Knife  
**

**Katherine (nicknamed Rina) Tang, Nine, Poison/Bow and Arrow  
**

**Juliana (nicknamed Julia, Ana, and Lia) Peng, Ten, Dagger/sword  
**

**Rue Wildflower, Eleven, Throwing knives  
**

**Leah Malyna, Twelve, Poison/knife  
**


	9. SPLASHdowns and Interviews

**This chapter is extra long, to make up for me not being able to update soon. Next chapter, I'm jumping into the Hunger Games! However, those chapters will be shorter so I have more epic cliffhangers! Yeah... I showed my friend one page, and forgot to give them the other. That was an accidental cliffhanger... eheheh... I don't really have any reviews to reply, but to you used to sit next to me, that's not your concern.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games.  
**

**Author's notes**

Story**  
**

"Talking"

_'Thoughts'  
_

___TIME _

___"Computerized_ _Voice"_

'Written Material'

Place

**(Asian Food Item [said in Mandarin, not English!])  
**

* * *

_DECEMBER 31ST, HUNGER GAMES__, 9:53 AM_**  
**

**Jessica's PoV  
**

Tomorrow will be the Hunger Games. Tomorrow. And in seven minutes, we would begin the SPLASH!down, which was what we called the 'dress-up process'.

"The SPLASH!down is so pointless!" Sophie moans. I nod vigorously.

"I know! The whole point of it is to give us sponsors, but that doesn't work if we can't have sponsors this year **this year is a quarter quell, so the special rule is that they can't have sponsors**!" Mia agrees. We continue to complain about the SPLASH!down, until Tessa begins the nostalgia.

"I can't believe it's already been three years since we left ou- home," Tessa quickly corrects herself.

"I know, right!" Cassie exclaims. "It honestly doesn't seem so long..."

"Cassie, how can you be so carefree about... all this, well, killing...?" Mia asks, her eyes somewhat scared. "Especially since you're the only one that knew everyone..."

"Yeah! I mean-" I begin.

"Guys! Stop talking, it's time for the SPLASH!down!" Rue says loudly. We all groan, but Rue rolls her eyes. "Stop complaining, all we have to do is wear... a ... dress... never mind! You can complain!"

We all start laughing- Rue's a tomboy. "Or am I a tom_girl_?" she had once asked.

"Hey! You have to suffer, too!" Rue complains.

"That's true, but we don't dislike dresses as much as you," I explain. We head down to the Dining Hall, where we were to meet with our District stylists.

"Everyone! Please be quiet!" Katniss calls loudly. The room quickly becomes hushed. "Total, I will have twelve stylists. Please organise into groups- girls with girls, boys with boys- of two."

I was about to join Cassie when Rue came to her.

"Hey, Cassie, do you want to be partners?" she asks. Cassie raises her right eyebrow.

"I'm partnering up with Jess, sorry." Cassie says, a hint of iciness in her voice. "Why don't you go with Kat, Katherine, Akina, or Luna?"

"Yeah! That's a good idea," says Rue, heading off. Finally the room settles. Twelve stylists walk into the room- half of them are female, the other half are male. One of them looks suspiciously familiar- a female.

"Stylists, please choose a pair to work with. One of your _own gender_, Flarius," Katniss says, glaring pointedly at a tall man. He has long blond hair, tied back into a loose ponytail that reaches the middle of his shoulder blades. He rolls his bright greenish grey eyes, but nods. The familiar stylist begins to come towards us, and as she nears, her features become more and more recognizable.

"Kelly?" I gasp.

* * *

_DECEMBER 31ST, HUNGER GAMES__, 10:09 AM_**  
**

**Cassie's PoV**

"It's actually Kaitlyn, here," says the girl. Her darker-than-usual-for-Orientals skin seems paler than usual.

"Kaitlyn, then... how did you get here?" demands Jessica. Kaitlyn smiles in her cool, calm way.

"Some way... but you do know I have to prepare you for the SPLASH!down, right?" she says. I roll my eyes.

"It's pointless, though. We can't have sponsors this year, you know that, right?" I say, my right eyebrow raised.

"I know, but still. The Gamemakers probably won't go after you if you're popular, because then they would get a bunch of haters," Kaitlyn reasons. Jasmine looks thoughtful- for once.

"I guess you're right," she muses. "Then let's start!"

* * *

_DECEMBER 31ST, HUNGER GAMES, 11:00 AM_

**Finnal's PoV (gosh, I hate this person! But I might as well give him some screen time for once)**

The SPLASH!down is nearly about to start. Caesar **is he the one who introduces them here...? Bleh, whatever** helps Akina onto the chariot and I'm left standing there alone.

"Do you need help?" Akina asks, holding out her hand. I take it gratefully, and she pulls me onto the chariot.

"Thanks," I mutter, staring ahead in embarrassment. _'I can't even get myself onto a chariot without a girl's help...'_ I think, sighing. A trumpet sounds before us- the cue for the chariots to begin.

Time to start.

* * *

_DECEMBER 31ST, HUNGER GAMES, 11:00 AM_

**Aspiring Stylist Capitol Girl's PoV**

The tributes are finally out. First is District One.

**BTW, this part is just what they're wearing. It's not particularly important.**

The girl in District One, on the left of the chariot, wears a black and hot pink knee-length dress. The skirt is ruffled, with three layers, and hot pink in color. The top of her dress is black, with a sweetheart neckline. The sleeves cling to her arms, but loosens at her forearms- a angel sleeve. The neckline is outlined with hot pink sequins. The girl's eyes are outlined in hot pink eyeliner, accented with light pale pink eyeshadow. Her feet are adorned with black-tipped pink ballet slippers, which sparkle with each inch the chariots move

On her wrist is a platinum charm bracelet, with multiple charms on it- a ruby apple, with an emerald leaf and epidote for the stem. The second charm is in the shape of a sheep. The sheep is made of milky quartz, with tiny hematite eyes. The sheep's wool looks fluffy, and it's made from gypsum. The third charm is of a piece of citrine wheat. Another charm is of a ball of yarn, colored green by the work of jadeite **this is also known as jade**. Fifth is the charm of a rainbow fish, made out of an opal. The eyes are obsidian. The sixth charm is one of a tiny dagger. The hilt of the dagger is silver, with obsidian and aquamarine gemstones encrusted in it. The blade is made from platinum. Lastly is a charm of a cushion. The cushion charm is made from amethyst.

Next to her is a boy. He's at least a head taller than the girl next to him, and his hair is golden-brown. His eyes are a blue-green **can anybody**** I know confirm that?** He wears a royal purple suit, and his dress shoes are black. The jacket of the suit is made from silk, and two pockets are at each side. The collar reveals a crisp white dress shirt underneath the jacket, and a midnight blue tie over the shirt. The pants of the suit are also silk, with four pockets instead of two- two in the front and two in the back. The hem of the pants nearly touch his shoes, but they don't quite touch it, and his socks are revealed- the same midnight blue color as his tie. His black shoes, on close observation, aren't dress shoes- they're actually shoes that could pass for dress shoes. They don't have laces.

Their chariot is made from royal purple velvet- the same color that the boy's suit is. The wheels are at least two feet in diameter, and also painted purple. On it, printed in large and swirly letters are the words:

DISTRICT ONE

MARTIN AND KAT

As their chariot strolls past, I turn my head to look at the next chariot. In it is a girl with shiny black-brown hair, down to her mid-back. Next to her is a boy with white-blonde hair that shimmers so much against the bright lights that it almost hurts to look at it.

The girl is wearing a black and white dress, knee length like the first dress. Like the first girl's dress, black was on the top, but instead of hot pink being on the bottom, the pink is replaced with white. The neckline was a jewel neckline, and on her neck is a necklace with simple silver chain. On the chain is a single charm, made from platinum and painted with glossy paint. The charm is a classic yin-yang shape, about a centimeter and a half in diameter. The charm sits on her dress attractively, and the black background cloth sets off the effect perfectly. The skirt of the dress is a ruffled skirt, like the first girl's dress, with three layers, but there's glitter spread on each layer. Her shoes are silver ribbon ballet flats, with a silver ribbon weaving into the shoe and out again. It ends in an even bow at the tip of her toe. Her black-brown hair is secured by an obsidian clip with moonstones encrusted in it, the clip shaped like a ribbon. Her dark brown eyes are outlined with black eyeliner, making her look like a cold and antisocial girl. The eyeliner is emphasized by glittering silver eyeshadow. She has a bracelet like the first girl's bracelet, but with more charms.

Each charm that the first girl has is on the second bracelet, but the second bracelet has more. The first extra one is one of a light bulb. The bulb's 'glass' is made from a bright topaz, and inside it is a tiny piece of tungsten, and the bottom of the precious light bulb is a circular platform of platinum. The second new charm is of a lightning bolt, made from heliodor. Another charm is one of a car. The car is pink from rose quartz, and the seats are colored a soft peach from a tourmaline. Tiny seat-belts are made from onyx, and the clip is made from silver. The fourth charm is of a tree. The trunk and branches are crafted from smoky quartz, and the leaves are intricately designed in emerald. The last charm is a mining cart. The cart is black, colored by the work of jet. The wheels are crafted from iron, and the 'coal' inside it is black spinel.

The boy with white-blond hair is wearing almost the same thing as the boy before him, but the colors are different- a metallic, cold silver for his suit and black for his shoes. His bluish-greenish eyes are staring ahead almost blankly, and in his right hand is a spear- the spear has a platinum razor-sharp tip, and the shaft is wood dipped in platinum. There are slight grooves for the hand, where his fingers rested.

The chariot carrying them is the same color as the boy's suit- metallic silver. It's completely made of silver, and the lettering at the sides are in bold sturdy letters. It reads:

DISTRICT TWO

KRIT AND CASSIE

I stare at the next chariot coming by. The chariot is decorated with blinking lights that drape around the top. The chariot is golden, and the light reflects off the surface, the gold glimmering each time a light blinks off and on. On the front of the chariot, there are lights that form simple words:

DISTRICT THREE

DAVID AND MIA

The girl has her hair in a fishtail braid, and a baby pink ribbon secures it in place. The end of the intricate braid falls off of her right shoulder, and her dress looks almost exactly like the first girl's dress, but the hot pink is replaced with the same color as the ribbon in her hair. Each layer has red sequins lining the edges. Her shoes are pale pink ballet flats that glimmer. There's a little bow at the tip of the shoe. Her eyes are outlined in light pink, and a darker pink eyeshadow shades the paler pink. She wears a sparkling purplish lip gloss. She has a charm bracelet, like the girls before her, but there are only certain charms.

The charms on her bracelet were the light bulb charm, the lightning-bolt charm, the car charm, the tree charm, and the mining cart charm.

The boy has a suit like the other boys' suits, but it's golden, matching the chariot he's standing on. His shoes are of the same style, but they're brown, tinted with gold.

The rest of the chariots pass by. **I'm too lazy to explain.** I watch them in awe.

The interviews begin. I see that the first girl, Kat is the first to go up.

"Well, Kat, how are you this fine day? Certainly, you look very fine, to match the weather!" Caesar says, winking almost flirtatiously. This year, his hair is a bright and cheerful yellow, and his lips are painted the same color as his hair. His eyes are yellow, too- probably the work of colored contacts.

"I'm fine, but how are you?" Kat says, smiling comfortably. Caesar laughs.

"This isn't about me, it's about you! However, I _am_ perfectly fine," Caesar says, grinning eagerly. "Well, we might as well make use of this three minutes we have! Kat, how do you feel about fighting in the Hunger Games?"

"Well, it's not particularly bad, knowing that I'm trained," Kat says thoughtfully, "but my chances aren't as good as usual, especially since this year, we don't have sponsors, and everyone's been trained, for three years, too," she adds, smiling slightly.

"I'm sure there's a good chance of you winning!" encourages Caesar. "Now, I'm told that you and the other... ah, _participants _in this year's Hunger Games are rather close-knit. How does it make you feel, that you'll have to kill your friends, eventually?" He looks curious.

"It's not a good thing, I think. I want to try and avoid killing, even if it means that I'll have to die," Kat says bravely. Caesar looks amazed at the show of chivalry.

"That's a very... well, a very courteous thing you are saying! Now, speaking of friends, are you particularly... _close_ to anyone?" Caesar asks. His tone is slightly suggestive, but Kat apparently doesn't catch it.

"Not really. We all have our own groups, though, so we're kind of more close in those groups," Kat explains. Caesar looks somewhat disappointed by the response, but nods.

"Who's in your group?" Caesar says, leaning in as though it's a big secret. Kat giggles.

"You'll have to wait to find out," she says mysteriously. Her time is almost up, and the timer beeps obnoxiously.

"Well, that was Kat Citty from District One!" Caesar shouts. Echoes of his voice resound throughout the room, and Kat raises her hand in farewell.

"Thank you, everyone!" she calls, before walking down the steps. Her shoes sparkle and she gives a small smile at the boy of her District as she passes him. The boy walks confidently to Caesar, and they shake hands. Caesar beams at the golden-haired boy, and begins to speak.

"Why, hello, Martin! I should have expected that you would look as dashing as you do now!" Caesar says loudly. Martin laughs.

"Thanks, Caesar. You look great, too," Martin replies.

"So, Martin, what do you think are the chances of you winning?" Caesar asks, his eyebrows raised in curiosity.

"Actually, I'd say my chances are pretty high," Martin says confidently. "Some of the people aren't that dangerous to me, but some of them are. I can count on other people to kill them before they get to me." The rest of the interviews continue like that, until finally they're all over. I go to my hotel, and get some sleep.

Tomorrow's the Hunger Games, and I can't wait.

* * *

**YES! I'm so excited for the next chapter. I'll start typing it soon... also, should I make a profile story for this instead of posting it here? That would probably be useful, actually... Also, I won't be updating for a while after this. I'm going on vacation to Taiwan, and I will only have access to my email there (and only once a day, come on!). Sorry!  
**

**BOYS  
**

**Martin Melrose, One, Axe  
**

**Krit Megrid, Two, Physical/knife/shruiken/spear  
**

**David Firuffo, Three, Sword/dagger  
**

******Finnal (nicknamed sewer-boy on occasion) Sun, Four, Sword/trident  
**

******Ollie Zhang, Five, Physical/sword  
**

**Justin Yang, Six, Sword/dagger/axe  
**

**Alex Chicken, Seven, Machete  
**

******Max Chambers, Eight, Blow darts/knife**  


******Cody Wu, Nine, Physical/axe  
**

**Aaron Lee, Ten, Physical/sword  
**

**********Carlos Santana, Eleven, Physical/spears  
**

**********Jonathan (nicknamed Jon) Malaqui, Twelve, Sword/axe  
**

**GIRLS  
**

**Kat Citty, One, Nunchaku  
**

**Cassiopeia (nicknamed Cassie) Wang, Two, Poison/shruiken/throwing knives  
**

**Mia Chou, Three, Poison/knife  
**

**Akina Feng, Four, Poison/dagger/sword  
**

**Sophie (nicknamed Soph) Gu, Five, Shruiken/knife  
**

**Tessa Lu, Six, Poison/knife/sword  
**

**Jessica (nicknamed Jess) Chang, Seven, Dagger/knife  
**

**Luna Lin, Eight, Knife  
**

**Katherine (nicknamed Rina) Tang, Nine, Poison/Bow and Arrow  
**

**Juliana (nicknamed Julia, Ana, and Lia) Peng, Ten, Dagger/sword  
**

**Rue Wildflower, Eleven, Throwing knives  
**

**Leah Malyna, Twelve, Poison/knife  
**


	10. Please Read! Author's Note

**Okay, guys. I'm sure you all were hoping for a chapter, not some crappy Author's Note that you don't want to read. The reason that I haven't been updating at all period was because I was on vacation in Taiwan, and didn't have much time to write and think. This AN is going to be posted on all of my in-progress stories, so none of them are going to be updated for a while.  
**

**I'm going to be on a temporary hiatus. The reason is that I've realized how crappy my writing is when I_ don't read it over_. While on hiatus, I'm going to be fixing some mistakes, editing the storyline, changing the wording, and maybe rewriting the story completely (for those of you that were in my class, before summer break started, that's what I did with some of those poems). I've become less and less careful with looking through my chapters before updating, so the details are going to be much better. The times when I update are also going to change to whenever I feel like it. Updating every weekend is much too pressuring- I rush through the chapter simply to get it up.  
**

**This is inspired by two reviewers from Team Light: Against the Dark. This is, in my opinion, the best story on my profile. It's gotten mostly positive feedback from people _I don't know_. I haven't advertised to them, and though I haven't, they've still had the interest in my story to read and review it. I thank those two reviewers- ImperfectLuck and IsolatedSoul because they have given me such advice.  
**

**Sorry for disappointing the people hoping for a chapter. I will be making each of my stories better and maybe adding some more. Also, DON'T HESITATE TO GIVE ME FLAMES ON MY WRITING OR CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. I would be glad to receive feedback, especially if it is flames/constructive criticism.  
**


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